John Riel Casimero had a much easier time in the ring than he did with the scale.
The former three-division titlist salvaged a near-disastrous weekend with a first-round knockout of Saul Sanchez. Casimero scored two knockdowns before he forced the ending at 2:41 of the opening round Saturday at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Japan.
Grave concern was expressed over the main event even moving forward after Casimero twice blew weight. The official weigh-in ceremony on Saturday saw Casimero initially weigh more than two pounds over the contracted 122-pound limit. He was only able to get down to 123 ¼ pounds after the final attempt.
Sanchez’s team conditionally agreed to move forward with the fight. Casimero was required to commit to two more weigh-ins on fight day—once in the morning, and again as he arrived at the venue. The visiting Filipino came correct on each occasion to all the show to go on as planned.
It was all one-way traffic from there.
Casimero hurt Sanchez with the first punch he landed in the fight. Sanchez was in trouble and forced to touch his gloves to the canvas within the first 20 seconds of the bout. Referee Yuji Fukuchi correctly ruled the sequence as a knockdown and issued a mandatory eight-count.
Sanchez tried in vain to fight back, and managed to land a left hook midway through the round. It only infuriated Casimero, who came roaring back. He missed wildly with a left hook but was able to slip a counter right. Casimero made Sanchez pay with a follow-up left hook to put the California native flat on his back.
Somehow, Sanchez recovered in time to beat the count. Casimero was relentless in his pursuit to close the show. Every punch was thrown with knockout intentions. A final right hand caused Sanchez to wobble and the referee to intervene.
Casimero (34-4-1, 23 knockouts) is now unbeaten in his last 15 starts. However, the run also includes a draw in his previous fight and having left his WBO 118-pound in England after failure to comply with their fight week weight management rules.
Sanchez (21-4, 12KOs) is now 3-3 in his past six fights and 1-2 on the year. He opened 2024 with a Fight of the Year-level majority decision defeat to then WBO bantamweight titlist Jason Moloney. Sanchez rebounded with an eight-round decision over Arthur Villanueva in July, also at bantamweight. His move up in weight took a disastrous turn.
Casimero previously held major titles at junior flyweight, flyweight and bantamweight.
A greater commitment will need to come at junior featherweight before he can prove to challenge for the crown. Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) holds The Ring championship and all four major titles at the weight. The two were due to meet in an April 2020 three-belt unification bout at bantamweight, only for the pandemic to kill those plans.
There has been loose talk of the fight making its way back to the schedule in 2025, should Inoue remain at 122.
A big question surrounding Casimero is if any promoter is willing to take a chance on the troubled 35-year-old. Former 130-pound titlist Masayuki Ito brought Casimero aboard to his TB Promotions outfit but was put off by this weekend’s pre-fight events. Inoue’s team has previously expressed interest in revisiting the fight, but also demands the utmost professionalism for its events.
